Renewable energy production is almost entirely aimed at the generation of electricity. However, we use more energy in the form of heat, which solar panels and wind turbines can produce only indirectly and relatively inefficiently. A solar thermal collector skips the conversion to electricity and supplies renewable thermal energy in a direct and more efficient […]
Warmed Tunnel Air Provides Heating/Cooling Energy
by Kevin Clemens Adding the heat energy from trail and Metro tunnels to geothermal systems can reduce commercial and residential heating and cooling costs. Turning waste energy into useful work is becoming a trend. Now, researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), a research institute in Switzerland, have proposed a way to capture the […]
The Netherlands Kisses Gas Goodbye
Revolution in gas country the Netherlands: the Dutch government wants all residential buildings to be off gas in 2050. The objective is to reduce CO2 emissions from the built environment. But does phasing out gas deliver the expected results? Eline van den Ende spoke to experts and concludes that a ‘gas-less’ society makes sense only […]
How We Went on an Energy Diet, and What We Lost (and Gained!)
“In this post I’ll discuss how we’ve reduced energy usage in our home over the years and the benefits of having done so. I’ve already revealed some of what we’ve done in the posts about keeping cool in the summer and keeping warm in the winter. But I haven’t gone into detail about how much energy we used […]